Mexican Manipulation
by AgentSJSands
Summary: This story runs along with the events in the movie and beyond except that Sands had a partner. Would she be able to save his life? What happens after the DOD? Sands, OFC. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sands. Samantha is mine. **

She pulled out the chair and sat down across from Agent Sands. He didn't look up, just continued to eat the red dish that sat in front of him as if she weren't there. She was sure it was him. He fit the description and picture she was given; dark brown shoulder length hair, slim build, 5'10" tall.

"Agent Sands?" she asked in order to get his attention.

He looked up from his food briefly and nodded slightly toward her. His eyes were covered in dark blue-tinted sunglasses but she could see that he was now looking her way.

"I'm Agent Butterfield. They sent me to be your partner here in Mexico." She said pleasantly and reached out her hand to shake his.

His eyebrows shot up behind the sunglasses. "Butterfield? Is that what you go by?"

"Well, you can call me Samantha if you like. After all, we will be working together." She smiled, her hand still outreached for the handshake that wasn't coming.

The corners of his mouth drew into a smirk. "Will we now?", he mused. "Well, Sam, I work alone. I have no use for a partner." He continued to eat his food.

"Agent Sands, I know that you have been working alone for some time but the agency felt it was in your best interest if someone was here to watch your back. Intelligence has indicated that something big might be going down here in Mexico shortly and…."

He cut her off, "Would you like to try some of my pork? It's really quite good," he said pointing down to the food with his fork and looking at her.

"No…sir. I'd like to continue to discuss…"

"It's sir now is it, His mouth twitched. "Sam, how long have you been with the CIA? His eyebrows raised in a question.

"Aw, two years now," she stammered.

"So, they sent me a rookie, how charming." He laughed a short laugh.

"I'm not a rookie s…."

"How old are you?" he cut her off again.

"I'm 22," she said resignedly.

He snorted in disapproval. "When you report back to DC, which you undoubtedly will several times a day, let them know that I am not a babysitter."

He got up pushing his chair back with a squeak, signed the check and quickly exited the restaurant. Samantha had to practically run to catch up to him.

"Listen, I'm sure you'd rather work alone, but I was assigned to assist you and I am only trying to do my job," she said shortly as she caught up to him.

They were standing beside a red and black sports car. "Get in," he said to her.

She looked at the car as he jumped in and started it up. "Where are we going? She asked hesitantly.

"What hotel are you staying at?" he asked.

She got in the car and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and read him the hotel name in very poor Spanish as best as she could make it out.

He rolled his eyes at her. "So you don't speak Spanish either. This is turning out to be a fine turn of events." His mouth turned into an angry grin. "Is this some kind of joke from headquarters or did they seriously send you to be my partner?"

"No, it's not a joke, sir."

"Quit calling me sir!" he practically shouted at her. "OK," he said more calmly. " I'm going to take you back to your hotel and you are going to call the CIA and tell them to send you back home."

"No, I won't do that! Listen, I can help you. I'm not as inexperienced as you think."

"Oh, really?" he questioned. "How many assignments have you been on?"

"Two…but they both went really well and I graduated top of the class in training and…," she started.

"That's all fine and well Sam but I need real experience down here not some pencil pusher that went on two cushy assignments to sharpen her teeth and now she thinks she can do anything," he said annoyed with her.

"I assure you I CAN do the job!" She said getting annoyed herself now.

"Yes, yes, everyone is very assured until bullets start flying past their head. He waved one gloved hand in the air around his head. Do you think you can handle THAT?" he said pointedly.

"Of course, sir…Sands. I am a highly trained professional."

He whistled between his teeth and rolled his eyes. "This is truly unbelieveable," he said.


	2. Chapter 2

They rode for a couple of miles in silence. Then Samantha said, "Look, I wasn't sent to interfere with your operation down here. I was only sent to cover you in case of trouble. That's all. So you needn't worry whether I will mess up whatever it is that you are doing. I'll just be gathering intelligence so I can cover your back."

His eyebrows shot up and he looked at her pointedly, "Oh, you can cover me any day," he drawled, his eyes raking up and down her body and then focusing back on the road.

Samantha groaned in disgust. "I am NOT interested in you in that way and just because I am female does not mean that you have to make some kind of move on me," she snapped.

His lips curled into a smile and he kept looking forward. "Someone doesn't like to be reminded that they are a woman," he said matter-of-factly.

"It has nothing to do with that," she spat out at him. It was true that she had been treated differently on many occasions by the men at the CIA because she was a woman and that fact did annoy her but she wasn't going to let him think so.

They drove the rest of the way to her hotel in silence. He threw his sunglasses on the dash of the car and looked over at her. She was surprised to see that he had the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Let's go," he said to her. They got out and she checked in to the hotel. They made their way to her room. When they got to the door, Samantha asked, "When should I meet up with you again? I have some things to take care of today and…"

He cut her off, "Aren't you going to invite me in? he asked with a playful smile on his lips.

"No!...I mean, why would I? I have to settle in and then I'll…call you…OK? " she stammered.

"OK, Sugarbutt. Call me," he said as he walked away from her door.

Samantha entered the room and shut the door behind her and leaned back against it. Why was she letting that man get to her, she asked herself. I mean, sure, he was good looking, but that personality, ugh. He was your typical macho, arrogant, ego driven male type. The kind she didn't like. Her ex-boyfriend had been like that and she was never going to be involved with another man like that again.

She needed to get supplies and some tourist clothing for this assignment. She had been sent to Mexico so quickly that she didn't even have time to pack, being pulled into her boss's office at the CIA and told she was leaving in the next couple of hours.

She opened the file on Agent Sands again and studied it. He had a fairly long and successful career with the CIA but the file didn't tell her everything. She had heard the rumors that he was, well, psycho as someone had put it. That he would kill whoever he thought he needed to without a second thought and though he had always managed to successfully complete his missions, there were often more dead bodies than were expected in the end, some of them friendlies.

Rumor was that he was sent to Mexico to get him as far away from the CIA as possible and keep him out of their hair, so to speak. Whenever he was back at headquarters he riled up the bosses so badly that they were ready to kill him. She smiled to herself. She could see that as a possibility after meeting him.

Her best friend, Jennifer, at the CIA had also told her to watch out for him. He had a reputation with the ladies as being a man who would use a girl and spit her out like used chewing gum. He had broken the hearts of many of the girls back at headquarters.

Good thing for the warning, she thought, because he certainly was a good looking and persuasive guy. She could see how a woman could fall for him. She tried not the think about that. She was here to do her assignment and would deal with him on a professional basis.

She put the file down and left her room in search of the things she needed to start her assignment. After a couple of hours she had managed to find what she needed and she headed back to her hotel room to change.

She pulled her thick wavy auburn hair up into a long ponytail and looked at herself in the mirror. She was a pretty girl with pale skin, green eyes and a turned up nose. But she was too cutesy looking, almost pixieish, to be taken seriously, she thought. To top it off she was too well endowed for her slender 5'5" frame. That annoyed her. She wanted people to look at her with respect but instead people always seemed to stare at her breasts instead of her face or laugh at her when she was serious, as if it seemed out of character.

She frowned at herself and put on some fresh makeup and her favorite perfume. She called Sands to meet with her in half an hour. It was getting late in the day and they could talk some more about what intelligence she had and then call it a day, starting her assignment seriously tomorrow. She was tired from the long trip anyway and wanted to go to bed early.

She threw on a white tourist t-shirt she had just bought along with a pair of khaki shorts and jeweled sandals and made her way down to meet with Sands.

He drove up in his car and pushed her door open. She got in and they started to drive. He looked over at her attire and nodded approvingly. "I like the shirt," he said, a smile playing on his lips. She looked down and realized that she had put on a t-shirt that read, "Mexico is for Lovers." She cursed herself silently for the stupidity of that choice given Sands penchant for joking with her.

"Yes, well I needed to look like a tourist, didn't I?", she said trying to keep her cool. He was not going to win by getting her annoyed, she decided firmly.

"Definitely," he laughed, "and you certainly do. Except…"

"Except what?" she asked pointedly.

"Except, you need the lover part," he drawled and looked at her t-shirt again and then up at her eyes seductively.

She sighed loudly, "Sands are you always going to be like this?"

"Can you dig it?" he smiled at her.

She groaned and fell silent as they drove to a restaurant he had picked for their meeting. She was glad because she was starving and needed to eat.


	3. Chapter 3

Sands smiled to himself. His plan was working. Since she wouldn't voluntarily leave, he would drive this woman crazy and she would be begging to get back to CIA headquarters before too long. He didn't need a partner or someone to watch his back. She might find out everything he had planned and he couldn't afford that to happen. If she did find out about the 20 million pesos, he would have to kill her and that would get messy. It was never good to have to take out another CIA agent. There were always far too many questions involved and he really didn't feel like being on the hot seat, yet again.

No, it would be better to just keep the heat on her until it got too hot for her and she made the decision herself that she couldn't handle it anymore. He was sure it wouldn't take long. By the look of her she was a naive and innocent girl. She would break at the first sign of any trouble, he was sure of it.

They arrived at the restaurant he had picked out. He hadn't tried their Puerco Pibil yet so he ordered it as he always did, hoping it would be good.

"Do you always order that? She asked, "I mean most people don't eat the same thing for lunch and dinner."

Nosy little brat, he thought. "No, I don't always order it, but if I haven't tried it at a certain restaurant it is usually the first thing I like to try."

"Why?" She asked genuinely curious.

"I consider it a gauge to the quality of the restaurant. You see if they can make this dish good, well then, they can make anything good." He replied with a smile.

He decided not to tell her that if it was indeed good enough, he would shoot the cook, to keep the balance. The CIA generally frowned upon such things but he did it anyway. They just didn't need to know about it and he was sure she would tell them, little rookie canary that she was.

"Oh, OK," she said still looking confused. "Well about the intelligence I have…," she began.

Their food arrived as she was talking and he began eating. He listened half heartedly as she rambled on about the supposed new intelligence that she was aware of, nodding every now and then. There was nothing he didn't already know. Some of it he had set up himself. He watched her, and was amused at the self-assured way she spoke about it like it was so very important that he know this.

"Well, that's very interesting, indeed," he remarked at the conclusion of her little speech. Having finished eating, he lit up a cigarette blowing smoke in her direction.

She fanned the smoke out of her face and coughed. "Do you have to smoke?" she said. "I hate those things."

"Yes, I have to smoke, " he responded. "You see it's a little thing I like to call a habit." He smirked. "Gotta have it." He shrugged. Good, he thought, smiling to himself, yet another thing I can irritate her with.

"Well, I'd prefer it if you'd do it when I'm not right beside you, or in a more open area if that's alright with you. It bothers my allergies," she said, smiling to try to lighten up the mood.

"No," came his short reply.

"No? What do you mean, no?" she asked looking at him pointedly. "It's a simple request. I have allergies."

"No, I won't smoke in your so-called designated areas. I will smoke when and where I please, savvy?" he grinned menacingly at her.

"Fine!" she retorted. "Inconsiderate…b.."

He couldn't make out the last word that she said under her breath but he was sure he had irritated her. He sat back and blew more smoke in her direction and smiled at her across the table.

He waited for her to finish eating then paid the check and they left the restaurant to return her to her hotel. He would drop her off and then hopefully get rid of her soon or at the very least keep her out of his way for the next few days until his plan could come together.

They arrived back at her hotel and he walked her up to her room. She opened the door and went in and began to close the door but he pushed it back open and walked in.

"Sands, I thought we were done talking. I was going to call it a day. I'm very tired," she said as she threw her bag down on the small table and turned to him.

He kicked the door shut and walked toward her. "Oh, we are done talking, Sugarbutt," he said advancing on her.

She backed up into a wall as he closed the gap and grabbed her around the waist and kissed her hard, crushing her lips and pinning her against the wall pressing his body against hers.

She gasped, completely taken by surprise, which was his plan, he mused. Turn up the heat and she'll buckle. He was surprised when her lips softened slightly and she relaxed just for a second.

"Sands….I….no…get away from me!" She seemed to recover some of her spunk and pushed him firmly away from her causing him to stumble backwards. "If you do that again, I swear I'll kill you," she yelled at him wiping his kiss from her lips with the back of her hand. "You are such a pig."

He smirked at her. "Baby, you know you loved it. I could tell." His cell phone rang in his pocket and he answered it annoyed at the interruption.

"You get the heck out of that girl's room!" Ajedrez yelled into the phone. "Don't think I don't know what's going on. I've suspected for a long time that you've been cheating on me and I had you followed. Now my man better see you walking out that door right now or we are so over." She slammed the phone down.

Oh dear God, she's been having me followed, he thought to himself. Why didn't I know this. He silently cursed himself. I have to go talk to her. This could ruin my plans.

"Sorry, gotta run." He smiled at Samantha. "Call me." He left the room quickly and headed straight to Ajedrez's apartment to see her and explain. But what was he going to say? He didn't want to tell her that this girl was sent from the CIA to watch his back. No, he'd have to think of something else.

Samantha walked into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Her lipstick was smudged and she could still feel his kiss on her lips. It had felt good. It had been a long time since she'd been kissed like that.

Oh, no, I can't think about that she thought to herself. This is definitely NOT the guy I want to be kissing. She quickly scrubbed her lips with a wet facecloth to get rid of the sensation of his lips on hers.

She brushed her hair and got ready to go to bed. Tomorrow would be the first real day of her assignment. She hoped she had made it clear to Sands that she meant all business, but based on his response, she was sure he would continue to annoy her. She was going to have to be firm with him. Normally she would just deck the guy but this was her superior officer and she needed to try to be diplomatic about it even though she knew he was just trying to get under her skin.

Or was he really interested in her, she thought? No, she wasn't going to think about that and it didn't really matter anyway. She wasn't interested in him, she told herself firmly, not one bit. He was an arrogant jerk, not her type at all. She lay down on the hotel bed thinking about the day ahead and drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day she woke up early and called Sands. They would meet for breakfast in the hotel restaurant and make plans for the day. She quickly took a shower and put on another tourist outfit, then made her way to the hotel lobby and restaurant.

Sands was already there waiting for her, sipping some coffee and smoking a cigarette. He had already ordered his breakfast, so she quickly ordered hers.

"So," she said to break the silence. "What are the plans for today?"

He looked at her blankly. "I have no idea what your plans are. Maybe you could go shopping or do whatever it is that you women do when you're on vacation."

"I'm not on vacation. I'm your partner so I need to be wherever it is that you are," she said firmly.

"Sugarbutt, we've already been through this. I don't need a partner. I have too much to do to be looking out for you, too," he said patronizingly.

"Look, let's get one thing straight, I'm looking out for YOU, not the other way around. THAT is my assignment and I plan to fulfill it, with or without your cooperation," she said angrily. She could feel the redness in her cheeks as she became flustered. How did he always manage to upset her, she thought?

"Without," he said.

"Without what?" she asked still angry that he had managed to get under her skin, yet again.

"Without my cooperation. You'll have to find your own way around town today. I have work to do," he said flatly.

"Fine!" she said, her anger rising. "If I have to shadow you, I will, but it's a monumental waste of time for you to rebel against the inevitable. The CIA wants me here and you WILL have to cooperate with me or else I will have to rep…," her words were cut off by his hand grabbing her wrist and squeezing it hard enough to hurt. She almost yelped in pain but held it in.

"I DO NOT have to do anything and YOU will not report me. That would be a grave mistake on your part," he seethed at her between his teeth. His eyes had gone black with rage.

She gulped. He looked positively deadly. Maybe the stories back at headquarters were all true and not just pumped up fantasies of someone's overactive imagination like she had been beginning to think.

"OK," she said calmly not wanting to upset him further.

He released her wrist and she rubbed it. She was sure it would bruise. Apparently he didn't like to be threatened with being reported.

They spent the next few minutes in sullen silence until their food arrived. She was surprised to see that he had ordered some sort of egg dish.

"What, not pork again?" She asked to break the ice, amusement in her voice.

"No." he said and took another bite.

He still looked angry and she wanted to get along with him so she continued to talk to him.

"Why not? Isn't it good for breakfast, lunch and dinner? The perfect food, I thought," she joked.

He sighed. "Puerco Pibil is a slow roasted pork. It takes several hours to make. Therefore it is generally not served until at least lunch time," he said wearily.

"So, you would eat it for breakfast, if it was available?" she asked.

He just stared at her, ignoring her question and kept eating his eggs. This girl was getting on his nerves with her happy, chirpy, little whiny voice. He was going to have to turn up the heat somehow. He hatched a plan in his head. He smiled to himself. Perhaps he could get rid of her today.

He finished eating and paid the check without saying another word to her. She watched him get up from the table.

"Where are you going?" she asked annoyance in her voice.

"Places to go, people to see, work to do, Chica. See you later." He walked out of the restaurant leaving her there to finish eating alone.

After he exited the restaurant, he made a call to Cucuy. He'd set everything up. He would make sure she was good and scared today so she would leave him alone. He was tired of dealing with her. He smiled. He had several meetings today and didn't want her interfering with his plans.


	5. Chapter 5

She finished her breakfast and headed back to her room. If he wasn't going to let her tag along, she was just going to have to follow him discreetly and watch him for afar. He was not going to ruin her perfect record thus far with the CIA by screwing up this assignment for her. She was going to cover his back no matter what he thought about it.

After calling in to the CIA and getting an update, she called a taxi and headed into the center of town. She found a small corner café where she could see most of the street in both directions, ordered a cool drink and sat out of view.

She saw Sands talking to a Chicle boy who stopped him with his bike and then handed him some money and said something to him and the boy rode off. She laughed as she looked at his awful disguise with a big moustache. Then he went into an internet café. She could see him get some coffee and sit down at a computer monitor. After a few minutes he took the moustache off and stuck it on the monitor.

He left the café and headed down the street out of her view. She quickly got up and started to follow him, determined not to lose sight of him. She surveyed the people around him to see if it appeared as if anyone else were following him as he walked. She saw nobody suspicious.

Suddenly she heard gunshots behind her and two bullets whizzed past her head embedding in the wall beside her. She dropped to her knees and crawled around a corner quickly, pulling her gun from it's holster. Panic rose up in her throat as she tried to look around the corner to see who had shot at her. She had never been shot at before and she couldn't figure out why anyone would shoot at her. She'd only been here less than a day. Who could know she was there and what she was doing there?

As she peeked around the corner she felt a sharp cold metal object at her throat and she froze.

"Don't move," said a heavily accented male voice. "Drop your gun."

She did as she was told, breathing heavily in fear. What had she gotten herself into? Here she was all alone. If Sands had just let her stay with him, there would have been two of them at least.

"What do you want?" She asked the unseen man.

He grabbed her arm behind her back and pushed her up to her feet. He walked her halfway down a nearby alley. He pushed her face first up against the wall beside a dumpster.

"You're a pretty girl." The man said and he started sliding his hand up along the back of her leg and pushing her skirt up from behind.

She was not going to stand there and let this man molest her. She swung her free arm around and it connected with his jaw sending him sprawling onto the ground. She took off running down the street as fast as she could and ran headlong into Sands.

Tears were running down her cheeks as the horror of what could have happened to her sunk in.

"What's wrong?" He said sounding genuinely concerned.

"Some man tried to rape me! If you had let me stay with you this would have never happened." She reached up to slap him but he caught her arm. Her heart was racing and fear was overpowering her senses.

"Tsk, tsk. I thought you could handle anything, he said his eyebrows raised in question. "Isn't that what you told me? This is Mexico, darlin'. You're not in Kansas anymore. You have to be ready for any eventuality. The people here are very impulsive. They see. They take. Latino passion, it goes with the territory. Not a good place for a young attractive gringo woman to be," he said slowly.

"Let go of my arm!" she shouted at him. "I need to….calm down….get some water." She suddenly felt very hot and faint and felt her vision blur and slip away from her. She fell into his arms.

He laughed and picked her up. He carried her the short distance to his car. The pill Cucuy had put into her drink should keep her out for a few hours so he could accomplish what he needed to today without her interference.

He drove her back to her hotel room and dumped her unceremoniously onto the bed leaving her there to sleep it off. Then he went to meet with Ramirez for lunch. He had to convince him to work with the CIA to put another piece of the puzzle together.


	6. Chapter 6

She slept like the dead. When she woke up it was late afternoon and she was disoriented. How had she gotten to her hotel room? Her head pounded like she'd drank an entire bottle of tequila but she hadn't drank at all.

She remembered talking to Sands on the street and then she had passed out, apparently. She remembered the man that had accosted her but she never got a good look at him. She needed to check to make sure Sands was OK. She sat up in the bed, her head spinning momentarily before she got her bearings and was able to dial his number on her cellphone.

"Hello," he said cheerfully.

"Sands? Are you OK? I guess I passed out or something….I don't know what happened really. I can't remember how I got here but I wanted to make sure nothing happened to you while I was out."

"Yup, you passed out alright, Sugarbutt. I had to carry you back to your room. I guess the shock was too much for you. Are you sure you shouldn't be doing some other job, like selling Avon or something like that? This CIA work can be rather harrowing at times. I'm not altogether sure you're up for it, frankly, after today," he said.

"Yes….I'm up for it!" she said a little too harshly. It made her head hurt some more. "I'm just not used to this hot climate and jetlag and stuff. I'm sure that is all it was. I'll be fine." A sob caught in her throat. She was still quite frightened about what had happened to her that day.

"You don't sound fine," he said. "I'm coming over to check on you." He hung up the phone.

A few minutes later there was a knock on her door. It was Sands. He was dressed in the same brown suit and orange shirt he had on earlier, except now he had a straw hat on and no sunglasses. There were those eyes again, she thought. She could get lost in those eyes. He looked wonderful, she mused, and then forced herself to stop thinking about that. Besides, she needed to think about more important things. She still didn't know why someone had shot at her and attacked her in the street. Apparently now she had to watch her own back as much as his.

"Come in," she said resignedly and sat down on the bed.

He sat down next to her and put his hand to her forehead looking into her eyes.

"You're hot and pale. How do you feel?" He asked concern written on his face.

"Oh, Sands….I'm….I'm…terrified," she admitted and threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. "I don't know why they sent me here. I'm not qualified. I don't have a clue what I'm doing and I really, really, need your help. Please don't leave me alone again." She cried into his shoulder.

Sands rolled his eyes at her knowing she couldn't see him do it. "There, there. It'll be OK. I'm here." He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. "Do you trust me?" he asked her.

She stared into his beautiful deep brown eyes. "Yes, I…I trust you. You're the only one here I can trust."

His mouth found hers kissing her passionately. He put one hand behind her head holding her in place as he crushed her lips with his. She moaned. "Oh, Sands…no…I…ca..." He kissed her again silencing her.

He pushed her back onto the bed and continued kissing her until she forgot what she was going to say.

Some time later he left her room. She had fallen asleep in his arms. Apparently she was useful for at least one thing, he thought to himself as he tucked in his shirt. Hopefully it would also buy him her loyalty if the need arose. One had to do what one had to do in this business although some of it was more fun than others, he mused, grinning to himself. She wasn't bad looking. In fact, she was stunningly beautiful and had a hot little body on her. Yes, it wouldn't be hard to amuse himself with her and keep her under control. Things were looking up.

He had a five p.m. bullfight to get to and he didn't want to be late. He had hidden his car a couple of blocks away and had made sure he'd lost Ajedrez's tail before going to see Samantha. He walked the short distance to his car and drove to his apartment to change his shirt.

After the bullfight he met with Bellini again, who unfortunately, got himself killed. It annoyed him when he had to lose a good rat. Then he went to meet with Ajedrez. She hadn't really bought his story about Samantha being a lost tourist who needed help finding her way back to her hotel room, but Ajedrez was thawing to him, he could tell. He knew he could trust her to come through for him. After all, they were lovers and she couldn't resist his charms.


	7. Chapter 7

Samantha didn't wake up until late morning the next day. When she did she expected to see Sands beside her, but he was gone. Her head felt much better but the guilt she felt was overwhelming. She had let him seduce her and she didn't stop him. It had been so long since she had been with a man and she had let her loneliness over ride her better judgment. Why had she let that happen? Now how was she supposed to work with him? These thoughts plagued her mind as she took her morning shower.

She hesitated to call Sands, embarrassed at her weakness. He must think I am some kind of fool, she thought. She would have to sound confident today.

She braved herself and dialed his number. He answered on the first ring.

"Good Morning Sweetheart," he said brightly.

"Good Morning Sands. I….um….slept well, but we need to get together today so I can…"

"Already up for more?" he said laughter in his voice.

"No, that's…not…what I meant….we…I….need to be with you…..by you…covering…you." She sighed, exasperated. "You know what I mean, don't make this harder than it already is, OK?"

He laughed into the phone. "OK. I'll pick you up for lunch in an hour." He hung up.

She thought about him and his brown eyes and his passion and was overwhelmed again with the thought of him. She was falling for him. She knew it and she wasn't happy about it. He was all wrong for her. She knew that, too. She had wanted to maintain her distance, but she had made that impossible now, too. She sighed and got ready to meet Sands for lunch.

He drove his car to the hotel to pick Samantha up and take her to a restaurant across town. They made decent Pibil and he was ready for some. He didn't have much going on today. Everything was in motion. He just needed to confirm with El and Ramirez that they were moving forward with their plans and he would be home free. Nothing could go wrong from here. Today he could relax a bit and let Samantha think she was doing her job.

Samantha was waiting for him as he drove up. She hopped into his car and they took off down the road. He smiled over at her and put his hand on her leg in an intimate fashion. It made her uncomfortable.

"Look, Sands. I know things happened between us and all, but I really think we need to be professional in dealing with each other from now on." She bit her lip, not really meaning what she said but hoping she sounded strong and decisive.

"Oh, so you were just using me," he said and removed his hand from her leg and put it back onto the gear shift, clenching his jaw and looking forward away from her.

"No! No, it's not that. I'd never….no…..don't think that. I just mean that….well…..we have to work together and we're both CIA and we have to report back and I just thought…it would be better…if. Oh, never mind. I didn't mean it really. I just don't want anybody finding out," she said flustered.

"Oh, so I'm not good enough for anybody to find out about. I see." He shook his head looking even more annoyed.

"No!...no…Oh, gosh, this isn't coming out at all the way I wanted it to. I'm sorry. Forgive me. No, I want to be with you. I do…very much. It's just…oh, forget I said anything. Just forget it." She sat silently hoping she hadn't completely pushed him away.

He smiled to himself. She was just so easy to manipulate. It was almost too funny not to laugh out loud. Yup, he had found the way to keep her in check. She was falling for him big time and he held all the cards. Everything was going according to plan and she wasn't going to get in the way.

They sat in silence all the way to the restaurant where he parked the car.

"Sands, talk to me," she said, worriedly trying to see his eyes beneath his sunglasses.

"It's OK. I can take a hint," he said and started to reach for his door handle. She reached over and grabbed his arm to stop him from getting out and kissed him passionately.

"No. You don't understand. I do want you," she said looking longingly at him.

"Gosh, not now, Sugarbutt, control yourself, we have to eat sometime." He grinned at her and jumped out of the car.

She jumped out too. "I didn't mean now," she mumbled as she blushed and followed him into the restaurant.

They sat down at a small intimate table in the back of the restaurant.

"Do you forgive me?" She asked.

"Yes." He took his sunglasses off and smiled at her. "Forget it. I understand."

She smiled. "Good."

They ordered their lunch and she talked idly about how much she was enjoying Mexico as Sands thought about his plans and how everything would come together tomorrow. He nodded at her when it seemed like the right time, not really hearing a word she was saying.

"What do you think about that?" she asked and paused waiting for his answer. "Sands, did you hear me?"

"Hmmm? What did you say?" he replied his eyebrows knitted together as he tried to concentrate on her for a minute.

"I said do you want to go shopping today? There's so many neat little shops around here to look at. That is, of course, if you're not too busy," she looked searchingly in his eyes hoping he would say, yes.

That was the last thing he wanted to do, but she was looking at him like a lost puppy dog and he really didn't have any other plans at the moment so he said, "Sure."

They finished eating their lunch and Sands paid the check and they began to stroll down the street as Samantha darted in and out of different shops. She was in one shop a particularly long time so Sands made a phone call to El to make sure that he had his team in place. He did. That piece of the puzzle was complete.

She came out of the shop with a bag of clothing, gushing about the fantastic colors in the fabrics there. It was all Sands could do not to roll his eyes or sigh at her. Instead he gave her a tight smile and kept walking along with her arm hooked in his.

Slow torture, he thought. This should be a CIA technique. She ran into several more shops along the way as Sands wandered around outside smoking a cigarette. They spent the rest of the afternoon together.

Late in the day, his cellphone rang. It was Ramirez. He had taken the bait. Sands smiled to himself. It was all in place. Everything was perfect for tomorrow, the Day of the Dead. Now he just had to figure out how to lose this girl.

They ate dinner in an intimate café and headed back to her hotel for an intimate night. Sands waited until she was completely asleep before slipping out of her room and heading back to his apartment to prepare for the next day.


	8. Chapter 8

Sands woke up the next morning and got dressed all in black to commemorate the Day of the Dead. He threw a brown blazer on over his outfit to cover up his guns. He went to the internet café and gulped down several cups of coffee while he got a computer update from the CIA. Nothing in the report seemed amiss. Then he began making phone calls.

Almost immediately, he realized that the day was not going to go as smoothly as he had hoped. He attempted to call Cucuy several times, but he was nowhere to be found. He was also unable to reach his inside man who worked for the President. He did reach El by phone and El informed him that Cucuy had apparently ratted Sands out. Cucuy had abducted El and brought him to Barillo the previous day but fortunately he had managed to escape. He also learned that the President was blockading the roads so the much needed guns he was expecting had not arrived as planned. Sands had also noticed a new man was tailing him.

He tried to call his contact at the CIA headquarters several times but his phone mysteriously disconnected every time he tried that number. He hated to have to call Samantha for help, but under the circumstances he had no choice. She was supposed to be his backup after all and she could help him get what he needed to finish this operation. He'd just have to figure out how to keep her greedy little hands off the 20 million pesos later.

She answered her phone groggily, apparently still not out of bed even though it was almost noon. Jeez, that girl was lazy, he thought angrily. He told her to listen carefully because he needed her help, then he quickly began relaying to her all of the latest happenings and asked her to get him some backup, preferably a male with experience, he thought to himself. God help him if he got stuck with just her. But, today was too important to try to go it alone. Midway through his phone call he was abruptly cut off. He heard static on the line and another click. It sounded like his call was being intercepted.

"I'm just going to freak right out," he said out loud to himself.

No, he was not going to freak out, he told himself silently. This could all be rectified. He just needed to get everything back on track and there was still El and Ajedrez. It could still go off as planned with a little bit of help from Samantha. He went to the Flying Cow where he was to meet with Ramirez for an update.

Samantha got out of bed quickly and dressed after Sands had called her. Everything was apparently going down today with Sands and he needed her help. He sounded somewhat frantic on the phone and then they got cut off. She quickly called the CIA to relay his message and get more information on what she could do to help him.

They reluctantly filled her in on what was going on that day. Since she was there in Mexico with Sands, she would need to find him and help him accomplish his goal. They warned her that it was a Top Secret mission and even though she didn't have Top Secret clearance yet, under the circumstances, she would be allowed to help with the operation. They didn't have time to get another agent in there.

She felt butterflies in her stomach as they told her that a coup d'etat of the President of Mexico would be happening that day and Sands was supposed to make sure it went down as planned. It was now up to her to make it happen for Sands.

She hung up the phone. A Presidential assassination? That was way more of an assignment than she ever expected to be on. Wasn't she just supposed to be watching a rogue CIA agent's back?

She jumped as her cellphone rang again. It was Sands. He told her that he needed a new line, that his line had been compromised and that he was at the Flying Cow restaurant. He sounded irritated and concerned. She knew this wasn't good. She needed to get over there right away with another phone for him.

She needed to be better armed so she put all her available guns on and a jacket over top of her outfit. It probably looked weird in this heat but she didn't care. She quickly called for a taxi and headed into town with an extra phone for Sands. She pulled up at the Flying Cow restaurant, got out, paid the taxi driver and went inside.


	9. Chapter 9

She looked around the restaurant at every table but Sands was nowhere to be found. She saw a table with a plate of Puerco Pibil and a tequila with lime, Sands' favorite meal, just sitting there with nobody around. She walked outside again to see if he was outside smoking a cigarette when she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and everything went black as she fell unconscious.

She woke up some time later. Her mouth was dry and she was tied to a chair. She couldn't tell how long she had been out but her head was pounding. The room was mostly dark but she could see a woman was sitting on a nearby table.

"So, you're finally awake?" The woman said sarcastically. "Good."

"Who are you and where is Sands?" Samantha asked growing concerned for both their safety.

"My name is Ajedrez Barillo. I'm Sands girlfriend," she said matter-of-factly. "Didn't know that did you? Didn't know that he had a girlfriend already and you were sleeping with him. Well, he belonged to me and I don't like people taking what is mine. He always did have a wandering eye, but I fixed that didn't I?" she laughed a quick barking laugh and Samantha wondered what she meant by "fixed."

Samantha could feel the hurt welling up inside her. Sands had a girlfriend and he didn't tell her. He had slept with her while he was still involved with another woman.

"What did you do to him?" she asked, fear apparent in her voice. Barillo, she thought, wasn't that the name of the guy that arranged the coup?

"What? Do you actually have feelings for him? Is that possible? Well, I suppose he can be very charming when he wants to be, can't he? She asked walking around Samantha's chair. "But you should know that Sands doesn't care about anybody. Heck he probably didn't even love his own mother. He'd probably slit her throat if he needed to."

"Look, I don't want to hear your complaints about Sands, just tell me what you did with him," Samantha said harshly.

Ajedrez slapped her hard across the face. "Don't you dare talk to me that way, again. I am in charge here and I don't have to tell you anything. You, on the other hand, have to listen."

She sat back down on the table and looked at Samantha. "You aren't even that good looking. Who are you?" she spat at her.

Samantha didn't reply, she just glared at Ajedrez. Ajedrez got back up off the table and started walking back toward her.

"Sands told me that you were just some poor lost tourist girl that he helped back to her hotel room," she snorted. "He's not even a good liar. I mean, couldn't he think of something more convincing than that? I was almost insulted that he didn't seem concerned that I wouldn't believe him. So, again, who are you, really?"

"I'm just a girl on vacation. What he told you was the truth," she said.

"Liar!" Ajedrez yelled and smacked her across the face again. "Then why did you have all the guns and why were you the one to come to Sands rescue? Hmmm?"

"Because he called me and asked me to bring him a phone, that's all. I don't know anything else," blood was running down her chin from the corner of her mouth.

"I don't believe a word you're telling me, but that's OK, it makes the torture part all that much more fun, don't you think? It gives me an excuse to tear your face off, like I needed another excuse anyway," she laughed and hit her again making her see stars.

Samantha was going to have to figure a way out of this, but how? She was slowly working her hands loose from the binding behind her back but they were tight and she wasn't sure how long it would take her to get free. She had to keep Ajedrez talking.

"I really didn't know he had a girlfriend. I would never move in on another girl's territory if I knew," she said trying to calm some of the other woman's anger.

"Well, he'd never have told you. He always was a cheater and a liar and a thief, shall I go on?" she walked briskly around the chair. "What to do with you?" she mused aloud. "Are you CIA?"

Samantha ignored the question. "I can see that you are right about him. I barely know him really. We only just met," she said.

"You knew him well enough to sleep with him though, didn't you? Don't patronize me. I know what you're doing. You could care less about the fact that he had a girlfriend. You're just some easy two bit sleaze," she smacked her again making her nose bleed this time.

"No, I….would never.." She could feel herself losing consciousness again but she hung on until her head stopped spinning and she could see straight again.

"It was a mistake. I know that now," Samantha said.

"Well obviously it was a mistake and now here you are tied to a chair at the mercy of his girlfriend. This is just too good. I'd love to see the look on his face if he knew I had you here, too," Ajedrez said, amusement in her voice.

"Too? Samantha thought. Did that mean that he was here, or had been here, as well?

"Is he here?" she asked.

"No, not anymore," was her abrupt reply.

Samantha began to wonder if Ajedrez had killed him and the thought of that made tears well up in her eyes but she fought them back.

"Then where is he?" Samantha asked hoping she would say that he was still alive.

"You are not the one asking questions!" she barked at her and backhanded her.

They sat and stared at each other for a moment while Samantha recovered form the last blow to her face.

"Are you going to tell me who you are yet or do I need to blacken both your eyes?" Ajedrez asked. "Or, maybe I should just remove them. I have a friend who is very good at that," she laughed.

Samantha wondered what kind of evil woman this was to think of something as wretched as that. Then she finally worked her hands free.

"OK, I'll talk," she said quietly so that Ajedrez could barely hear her.

"What was that?" Ajedrez said getting closer to her so she could hear her.

Samantha suddenly threw both her arms up and grabbed Ajedrez around the throat and kneed her in the stomach, then shoved the woman backwards knocking her to the ground. Then she turned and darted to the door behind her.

She made it out the door and fled down the street and into an alley. She could hear Ajedrez yelling to someone for help. She zigzagged her way a short distance down some side streets and then hid behind a vendor's cart who had apparently left for a break.

She had no guns left. She cursed herself for being so stupid and getting caught. Where was Sands, she thought? She hoped he wasn't dead or wounded somewhere. She had to look for him. She could hear gunshots off in the distance and she remembered about the coup. Surely if Sands were alive, and able, he would be there. She slowly got up looking around to be sure that nobody was looking for her and she started to make her way toward the sound of the gunfire.


	10. Chapter 10

Sands lay wounded and bleeding in the plaza courtyard. He was too exhausted to try to get inside the building where he was sure there were more men waiting to kill him. He knew the 20 million pesos was in there and he wanted to be able to get to it but he just wasn't able.

He wondered what had happened to Samantha. Why hadn't she come yet? He needed help badly. He was blind. All he could see was the blackest black he'd ever seen in his entire life. He didn't want to think about what had happened to him. It made him want to retch.

Ajedrez had taken his eyes. He had underestimated her. He had trusted her. How could he have been so blind? Blind? "Ha" he laughed out loud. "Ain't that a peach?"

He lay in the dirt, dust flying up into his mouth. He was parched and he knew he was bleeding profusely. He was drifting in and out of consciousness. He wondered if he was even going to survive or if he'd bleed to death here.

He was drifting in a half awake state when he heard footsteps approaching.

"You f-ing little monkey. Stand up." It was Ajedrez. She yanked him to his feet sending shockwaves of pain through his bullet riddled body. It was all he could do not to cry out in pain.

She laughed. "See anything you like?" she said cruelly and then she kissed him.

He couldn't believe she was kissing him! She had torn his eyes out and now she was kissing him? What kind of sick….anger welled up inside of him. All he wanted was to see her die but he'd never have the pleasure. He'd never see anything again, thanks to her.

He shot her in the abdomen with his concealed gun. He had been lucid enough to put his third arm on while he was lying there, just in case anyone came up on him unexpectedly.

She fell to her knees. He could hear her gasp and thud as her knees hit the ground.

"No," he said. Then he heard her body hit the ground and she didn't move again. The adrenaline quickly left his body and he fell to the ground beside her and lost consciousness.

Some time later, he didn't know how much later, he heard the bell on the chicle kid's bike in the distance. He lifted up one gloved hand and tried to wave it so the boy would see him. The bell got closer and the boy stopped. He helped him to his feet and over to a nearby wall. He leaned precariously against it, still trying to stay on his feet.

He didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to do that. Ramirez came by and threw him his cellphone which he miraculously caught, then left saying, "See you later," in Spanish.

No, I'm not going to see you later. I'm never going to see you again, he thought as he angrily raised his middle finger at him and said, " F you!"

The kid asked him if he was going to be OK. He honestly didn't know. The kid assured him that he would be, but he wasn't so sure. He leaned there for a minute and then he remembered that he had Ramirez's phone. He tried to remember what the keypad on a phone was like so he could punch in Samantha's number. It took him three tries before he was able to get the number right and get a connection to her.

"Hello?' she answered sounding out of breath. She was walking quickly trying to find Sands.

"Sam?" His voice barely came out in a rasp.

"Sands? Oh thank God. Where are you? I can't find you," she said worriedly.

"I'm…," he tried to remember where he was. It was hard for him to concentrate. "Center of Town. Main Plaza. President…" he trailed off. He was losing consciousness again and he didn't have the strength to fight it. He fell to the ground, the phone still open in his hand.

"Sands? Sands!" she hollered into the phone. She wasn't too far from where he said he was. She broke into a sprint toward the main plaza area.


	11. Chapter 11

Samantha arrived at the main plaza and surveyed the area. She didn't see Sands anywhere. She made her way around the plaza. Dead bodies were scattered here and there. She saw a small boy on the other side of the plaza and made her way toward him.

He was waving his arms at her and she wondered what he wanted with her. Then she saw him, lying on the ground beside the boy, not moving. It was Sands. She broke into a run. She dropped to her knees beside him.

"Sands!" she said franticly. There was no response. He wasn't moving. She couldn't tell if he was breathing. Oh, please God don't let me be too late, she thought to herself. She steeled herself for the possibility that he was dead and leaned over him and reached out her hand to touch his throat and try to find a pulse.

His right hand flew up and grabbed her wrist in a death grip. He was alive. Relief flooded over her. He was squeezing her wrist hard. That was good. He still had some strength. Then she heard his gun click as he cocked it, preparing to shoot her.

She responded to the threat immediately. "Sands, it's me, Samantha. I'm here."

She wondered why he didn't seem to know it was her. There was blood everywhere around him. He was obviously hurt very badly. She saw the bloody trails coming from under his sunglasses. What had happened to him, she wondered and why was there blood coming from his eyes? Couldn't he see her? Is that why he didn't know it was her? She didn't want to think of the possibilities.

Sands groaned and released his grip on her arm. She quickly looked him over. She could see at least three bullet entry wounds on his legs and arm. They were all bleeding profusely. She tore pieces of material off the bottom of her shirt and tied tourniquets above the wounds to stop the blood from flowing.

She looked at the boy who had concern written all over his face. He must have been helping Sands. She didn't know a word of Spanish and she cursed herself for not taking it in school.

"Taxi?" she asked him. The boy didn't respond.

She looked around. The area was deserted. There were no taxis to be found. She did see a couple of cars. She sprinted to the nearest one. She was suddenly glad that there were a lot of older cars in Mexico. That would make hotwiring this one easier. She opened the unlocked car door and got to work. At least one thing she had learned from the CIA would come in handy today, she thought.

The car roared to life and she drove it the short distance over to where Sands was lying. She jumped out and opened the back door. She grabbed Sands under the arms and dragged him over to the car and struggled to get him inside and on the seat. Sands muttered curses under his breath but didn't have the strength to help her.

The little boy jumped up and grabbed an arm and helped shove him onto the car seat.

"Thanks for helping him," she said to the boy. He nodded. She wasn't sure he understood her but she was grateful that the boy had been there for Sands. She handed him some money and jumped in the car and started driving.

Her mind was going a mile a minute. She knew that CIA protocol was not to go to the hospital with an injured agent but he was hurt so badly that she was afraid he would die if she didn't.

As if he read her mind, Sands said from the backseat, "No hospital."

"But Sands, you're hurt and I…"

"No hospital!" he said as loudly as he could muster.

Her hotel was nearby so she decided to bring him there.

"Sands, I'm taking you to my hotel. Do you think you can get from the car to the room?" She was glad that her room was on the ground floor of the hotel and there was parking near the door to her room.

"Yes," he hissed out, the pain evident in his voice.

She pulled into a parking spot just outside her hotel room door. She opened the rear car door and helped Sands to sit up and then put his right arm over her shoulder and helped him to his feet. He groaned in pain and could barely put any weight on his legs. She struggled with his dead weight but managed to make her way over to the hotel room door, unlock it and get him inside and onto the bed.

She called the front desk. Luckily the person who answered spoke broken English.

"I need a doctor", she explained to the person at the front desk. "Someone discreet. I'll pay you well if you can find me someone quickly."

"Yes, I know of someone", the man said.

She knew there were lots of doctors in Mexico that filled illegal prescriptions and did things that were not above board. She was just hoping that whomever he found was capable of helping Sands.

"Thanks," she said quickly and hung up the phone. Sands appeared to be unconscious again. She quickly started removing his blood soaked clothing. She needed to get him cleaned up to make it easier for the doctor when he arrived.

She started to unbuckle his pants when Sands slurred, "I'm really not up for it right now, Sugarbutt. Wish I was.."

She laughed heartily at his joke. She was so glad he still seemed to retain his sense of humor even under these circumstances.

"Really, are you sure? I thought you were insatiable," she quipped back.

He laughed a short pained laugh. "Don't tempt me. I may have to…try…." Then he fell unconscious again.

She quickly removed the rest of his clothing, except his boxers. She laughed when she saw that there were little red hot tamale peppers on them. That was so like Sands, the ego maniac, she thought. She washed the blood off of him as best she could except some of the blood under his eyes. She wasn't sure she wanted to see what lay beneath those sunglasses. She examined him for injuries. There were only the three bullet wounds she had seen earlier, one in his left arm and one in each thigh. Unfortunately it looked like the bullets were all lodged inside his body. There were no exit wounds. After examining his wounds, she tucked him under the covers and waited for the doctor to arrive.


	12. Chapter 12

A short time later there was a sharp rap at the door. She looked out the peephole and saw a rather short Mexican lady outside. She wondered if it was a maid or hotel employee. Leaving the chain on the door she cracked it open. The woman said something in Spanish that Samantha didn't understand.

"No Espanol," Samantha said hoping the person spoke English.

"You're American?" Came the short reply in perfect English.

"Yes," Samantha said.

"I'm Dr. Rosa Vega. You requested a doctor didn't you?" she said, her eyebrows raised.

"Oh, yes, yes, please come in," Samantha said unchaining the door and opening it to her.

"I won't ask any difficult questions of you and I won't report anything to the police. I'm just here to help you. What medical help do you need?" the doctor asked opening her small medical bag and putting her stethoscope around her neck. She looked at Samantha pointedly waiting for her reply.

"Well, my…friend…over there, has some…wounds that need fixing."

Dr. Vega walked over to Sands. "May I examine him?" She asked.

"Yes, of course," Samantha replied.

Dr. Vega pulled the covers off of Sands. Sands shuddered from the sudden cold and woke briefly. He uttered some curses under his breath.

Dr. Vega did a quick examination of his arm and leg wounds. "Bullet wounds," she remarked. "No exit. The bullets will have to be removed."

She looked at his sunglasses and the blood pooled underneath. "What happened to his eyes?" She asked Samantha.

"I don't know. I haven't looked," she said honestly.

The doctor reached up to take Sands sunglasses off his face but Sands grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"No! Don't touch them!" he hissed at her.

"OK, we'll leave them for now, but we will have to look at your eyes sometime," she said.

"I have no eyes," he replied bluntly. "There's nothing to look at."

Samantha looked at him in disbelief. He has no eyes, she thought to herself? How could he have no eyes? What could have happened to him? Fear and sorrow gripped her as she thought of the implications of what he had just said.

"There are injuries. That is obvious, Mr….?" Dr Vega replied.

"Sands," he said.

"Mr. Sands, we need to prevent infection. We will have to examine them. For now, I will get to work on these bullet wounds. I am going to give you a shot of some pain medication. It will make you sleepy. It might even put you to sleep while I work on them."

She did a quick heartbeat and blood pressure check to make sure his heart was beating strongly before administering the pain medication. She waited a few minutes for it to take effect. Sands appeared to have fallen back unconscious.

She turned to Samantha. "His heartbeat is strong. He seems to be in relatively good shape considering the circumstances. He may have lost a lot of blood and there may be infection setting in. When I am done I will prescribe some pain medication and antibiotics to give to him. I will remove the bullets and stitch up the wounds. When I'm done with that I will inspect his eyes and see what damage was done there and decide what needs to happen. OK?"

Samantha just nodded her head. She was still reeling from Sands saying that he had no eyes. No eyes? His beautiful brown eyes were gone? Could that be possible? She was hoping he was mistaken and something could be done to save his eyes.

The doctor quickly got to work with Samantha's help getting water and towels. Dr. Vega seemed sufficient enough at her job. Samantha was impressed with her quick work.

"Why do you do this?" she asked the doctor. "Why aren't you working in a hospital or something?"

"I like to help people and I could work at the hospital but the hours are long and I have children who need their mother. This way I can still help those people who need help. I don't care how a person gets hurt. If they need medical attention, that's what I do. It's not my job to judge."

"Oh, I see. Well I for one am thankful to you," she replied.

Dr. Vega smiled at her and finished stitching up the last bullet wound. When she was done wrapping the wounds in gauze, she reached up for Sands sunglasses again and removed them.

Samantha gasped as she saw that there was truly nothing left of Sands beautiful brown eyes. Two bloody gaping holes were all that were left in their place. She gagged and turned her face away trying not to sob. Her breath caught in her throat.

Dr. Vega paused, obviously also taken aback and whistled slightly through her teeth.

"Who would do something like this to you?" She said quietly.

"A doctor," Sands replied, startling the women who thought he was still asleep. "One of your kind," he spat. "And, you'd better do a good job fixing me up because if you screw me up in any way I will hunt you down and kill you, savvy?"

"Yes, Mr. Sands. I understand," she said, pity in her voice, as she began to clean and disinfect his eye wounds.

"And cut the pity crap! I don't need it," he retorted.

She finished her work in silence.

"Well, there isn't much left of your eyes," she said frankly, when she had finished covering his eyeholes with gauze patches. "I'm not an eye doctor and I recommend that you see one right away to see if they can repair and possibly restore your sight. Time is of the essence. There may still be nerves that can be saved if you hurry, but I don't know."

She turned to Samantha. "Make him see an eye doctor. It really is important that he go immediately. Change the gauze every day. Keep his wounds covered when he bathes. Give him these prescriptions as prescribed," she said writing out two prescriptions. "If you need anything, my number is on the prescription," she got up to leave.

Samantha paid her and she left wishing them luck. She closed the door and turned to Sands. She didn't know what to say.

"I'll…go…get these prescriptions filled," she said quietly.

"It really is that hideous isn't it?" he asked her flatly.

"Um, no…I mean…I'm sure it can be fixed…somehow." She replied.

"Cut the crap, Sam. They left me a hideous monster. I'm blind. I can't see a thing. Why are you even still here? Why haven't you run away in horror? Or, maybe that's what you're doing now, eh? Are you even going to come back?

"Yes," she snapped. "I would never leave you like this. I'm going to help you. Do you really think so little of yourself that nobody would want to help you?"

"What's in it for you? I'm certainly no prize," he spat out at her.

"Why does there have to be something in it for me? I'm sure if I were the one hurt you'd help me," she replied.

"No, I wouldn't. You'd be on your own," he said flatly.

"You'd just leave me to die? You wouldn't. You couldn't. That would be heartless," she said the shock evident in her voice.

"Yes, I would," he said quietly.

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing I'm not you!" she snapped anger filling her voice. "Now, I'm going to get these prescriptions filled and I WILL be back."

She left slamming the door behind her. The nerve of that guy. He would really just leave me to die? What kind of person is he anyway? She thought to herself as she made her way to the nearest pharmacy.


	13. Chapter 13

Samantha had to wait while the prescriptions were being filled. She went next door to a clothing store and picked Sands up some loose clothing. She found some black silk pajama bottoms and a red pair as well. She also got some sweat pants for him to wear when he was ready to leave the room. She got some oversized cotton t-shirts and some new boxers for him as well. She found some sleeping masks so he wouldn't feel like he had to wear his sunglasses to bed. That would be uncomfortable, she thought.

She grinned to herself as she thought that if he gave her a hard time in the future that she would have to dress him up like a clown. She snorted to herself as she thought about that. It could be her own little private joke. He'd never know it. She found that thought to be humorous.

Her mind drifted to the memory of the sight of his missing eyes. She suddenly realized that, when she thought that she had almost lost him, she had fallen in love with him, in love with those eyes, and the loss of his eyes was devastating to her as well as to him. Yet, he was still Sands. He was still strangely handsome even without his eyes. She hoped that he could regain his vision in some way or at the least that his eyes could be cosmetically repaired. Either way there would be a lot of recovery time needed and she was determined to see him through it no matter how annoying he might be.

She gathered up her purchases, picked up the prescriptions and stopped to grab some sandwiches on her way back to the hotel room. It was late evening and Sands was asleep when she quietly entered the room and placed the items on the small table. She sat in a chair beside the bed and watched him sleep. Yes, he was still beautiful. He was a strange combination of beauty and ugliness that she just couldn't help but be drawn to. But his ugliness was not physical. She just had to know more about him. She had to know what made him so abrasive. Why did he push people away in such an obnoxious way?

She remembered Ajedrez's words to her. It still hurt to know that he had a girlfriend. She wondered if he loved Ajedrez. She wondered why he had slept with her when he had a girlfriend and wondered whether she had meant anything at all to him or if he was just using her.

Right now she had to help him and not worry about these questions, she thought. In time she would be able to talk to him about it. For now, she needed to be as supportive as she possibly could. She reached over and grabbed his hand. It felt cold. His hands had always been so warm, hot almost. She loved the feel of his hands on her body. She remembered the way he had stared intently into her eyes when he made love to her. A sob caught in her throat as she realized that he might never look into her eyes again.

Sands stirred. "Why are you crying?" He asked bluntly.

"I'm not crying!" she protested. "I just…you're…hurt…and I…feel bad about it. That's all. I AM human, unlike you." She said that last part a bit more harshly then she intended to.

"Hmmm…well don't go getting soft on me. You're all I've got and I need you to be my eyes until I can figure something out."

She dropped his hand. "Is that all I am to you, some seeing eye dog until you figure something else out?"

"Look, Sam, I do not have the energy nor the inclination to listen to your tantrums right now. I really don't care what has got you all upset, so just get over it," he said bluntly. "I need your help. I don't want your help, but I have to take it. I have no choice."

Samantha just looked at him. "You are impossible. Do you know that?"

"Do you really expect me to answer that?" he replied.

Samantha swallowed her anger. He was injured. He was going to lash out, she told herself. That was normal. She just needed to help him and try to be kind.

"I bought you some comfortable clothes. You're cold. Let me help you get dressed," she said quietly.

Sands sighed. "I can dress myself. Thank you."

"You can't even see which direction to put the clothes on. Just let me help. It would be a lot quicker," she answered.

"I'm not a two year old!" he snapped.

"Fine!" she yelled back and threw the t-shirt, still in the wrapper and the black silk pajama bottoms at him, crossed her arms and sat back to watch him try to get dressed.

He slowly managed to sit up groaning in pain. She wanted to help him but she told herself she wasn't going to. No, he was going to have to learn to ask for her help. He was being such a jerk. He needed to learn a lesson.

His hand fumbled around until he found the wrapped shirt. "What is this?" he asked her.

She thought about not telling him but decided not to be that cruel and replied. "A t-shirt."

"What color is it?" he asked.

"What difference does it make? You can't see it anyway." She winced at her own callousness.

"Just so long as it's not pink or flowery or something equally unmanly," he replied starting to sound more resigned. "If you're going to be buying my clothes I guess I'd better let you know what I like."

She came around the bed and ripped open the wrapper and helped him get the t-shirt on. "This one is black, to match your mood. Just don't make me angry and you get to stay manly."

He snorted at her. "You seem to be enjoying this power you have over me a little too much. Don't get used to it."

"Behave yourself and life will be much easier for you," she retorted not willing to give him any more ground.

She helped him pull on the silk pajama bottoms. His fingers felt the slick material. "What is this?" he asked.

"Silk, black again, I thought it would feel better on your leg wounds. Of course you can't go out in pajama bottoms, but for the time being you aren't going anywhere anyway."

He didn't argue with her. "I'm really thirsty. Is there any tequila lying around anywhere?" he asked.

"I'm not giving you alcohol!" she said firmly. "You are on pain medication."

"Well that would just boost the effect," he whined. "C'mon I'm in pain. It would help me."

"No way, mister. Not right now anyway. You need to recover. You lost a ton of blood and for all I know the combination could kill you."

"Would that be so bad?" he quipped back. "I'd be out of your hair, then, at least."

She sighed and got him a glass of water and a dose of his medicine. She stuck it in his hand. "Here, take these. It will help. You need to take it with food so I also have a ham sandwich here for you."

He took the medicine and she handed him the sandwich. He ate the sandwich and drank the rest of the water. She took the glass from him and helped him lay back down and tucked the blankets back around him. Within a few minutes he was asleep again. There was only one bed in her hotel room so she was going to have to sleep beside Sands. She hoped he didn't make some smart remark or obscene gesture toward her.

She changed into her nightgown and got ready for bed. She realized she was starving so she ate her own sandwich and then climbed in the bed beside him, turned off the lights, and drifted off the sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

She woke up the next day to Sands hand squeezing her butt. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked incredulously.

"I'm blind. Since I can't see, I have to feel what I want to see, so to speak," he said, a smile on his lips. "You'll just have to humor me."

"I do not have to do any such thing," she replied and hit him over the head with her pillow. It startled him since he couldn't see it coming.

"Hey, that's not fair. I can't fight back," he pouted.

"Exactly, so you have to do as I say and behave yourself if you want to survive," she said wickedly.

"I am behaving myself. I'm just trying to see… What is that cute little number you're wearing in bed anyway? It feels nice."

She looked down at her nightgown. It was nothing fancy, really, just a plain blue silk knee length nightgown.

"Tiger striped babydoll nightie with black lace trim,"she replied laughing to herself at her lie.

"Mmmm, you're killing me over here," he groaned.

"Serves you right," she laughed and got out of bed. She got his medicine and some water and came around to his side of the bed. "You seem to be feeling a little bit better." She handed him the medicine and the glass of water and sat down on the edge of the bed beside him.

"Thank you Nurse Goodbody," he replied with a smile and took the medicine.

"Listen, we need to call the CIA today and let them know where we are," she said.

"No!" he replied.

"Why not?

"Because I don't know who I can trust. All I know is that they never sent me what I needed to pull off the operation yesterday. Why didn't they, hmmm? I have to wonder," he replied.

"Why are you always so distrustful. You trust me don't you?" she asked.

He didn't answer her. She glared at him and then realized he couldn't see the glare so she said, "Look, I have never given you any reason NOT to trust me. I have always been there to help you. If I was against you I could have just left you there in the dust in that plaza to die but I didn't did I? No, I hauled your sorry…"

He stopped her tirade by grabbing the back of her head and pulling her down to his lips in a searing kiss. She was momentarily shocked by the sudden contact and then she softened in his arms and kissed him back just as passionately.

When he finally let her go, she was speechless. She could only think of his lips on hers and how good it felt.

"I never did properly thank you for saving me, Sam," he said huskily. "I'll have to correct that someday soon."

"I….I…it's….your welcome," she stuttered still unable to think.

Samantha just sat for a moment in silence and stared at the man who simultaneously drove her crazy with anger and passion at the same time. How did he do that to her? She didn't know, but she did know that she didn't want to be anywhere else in the world but right here with him right now.

"So, if you don't want to contact the CIA, then what do you plan to do?" she asked quietly.

"Well, when I am up to it, I plan to do my own little investigation into what went wrong and why I didn't get the backup and guns I needed," he replied. "If the answers I get are satisfactory then I will contact the CIA. For now, I just want to be "missing and presumed dead" as far as they are concerned and I guess that means you are, too, if you want to help me."

Samantha thought about the implications of that. Her family would be worried sick and possibly even mourn her death if they believed she were dead. But she wanted to be by Sands side through this and he would need her help to do what he needed to do.

"OK," she said flatly. "I'll help you."

"Good girl," he said and flashed her one of his brilliant smiles. She was beginning to love those lips as much as she had loved his eyes. There seemed to be no end to the ways this man could display his charm.

"I'll go round us up some breakfast," she said. She rummaged around in her suitcase for some new clothes and started to get changed.

Sands could hear her rustling around. "Are you taking your clothes off right there in front of me?" he asked her, his eyebrows raised in question.

"Um, well, yeah, you can't see me…so…" she replied.

"Believe me Sugarbutt, I don't have to see you to get turned on. Just the idea of you standing there naked is enough for me."

"Well, you had better just cool your jets, mister, cause you are in no shape to be thinking about anything other than resting right now," she replied, a laugh in her voice.

"You are no fun at all. There are creative ways we could…" he began.

"No! I am NOT going to call Dr. Vega and try to explain why and how your stitches somehow got ripped out," she retorted.

He smiled. "I'd pay money to hear that conversation."

"Yes, well that's why it WON'T be happening." She finished getting dressed, slipped on her shoes, and drove around looking for a restaurant to get some food.


	15. Chapter 15

After she had picked up the food, she drove by the Flying Cow and noticed that Sands car was still parked there and miraculously unharmed. She decided to ditch the car that she had basically stolen and hotwire Sands' car instead and drive it back.

After a few minutes she was able to get the car going and she started to drive back to the hotel. Suddenly a car drove up beside her and forced her off the road. She slammed on the brakes to avoid slamming into a wall.

Two American looking men jumped out of the car and ran over to her car and yanked open the door. They both had their guns drawn and one pulled her out of the car kicking and screaming and dragged her around a corner.

"Where is he?" one of the men demanded.

"Where is who?" she asked breathless from trying to fight them off.

The man tightened his grip on her shoulder. "Sands!"

She thought for a moment. Who could these men be? She didn't recognize them but they were obviously American. They did not have a friendly demeanor.

"I don't know who you are talking about!" she replied.

The man slapped her hard across the face. "You DO know, Agent Butterfield. Where is he?"

They knew who SHE was! Her mind was reeling. Why were these men after Sands and who were they, she wondered.

"He's dead! He died yesterday before I could get to him," she lied.

"That's unfortunate," one of the men said and she heard his gun click as he cocked it. She quickly spun and kicked the man holding her. She turned and punched the other man and ran as fast as she could back to Sands' car, got in and sped away.

She made sure she would not be followed by changing streets several times before finally arriving a few blocks away from the hotel where she parked the car in a dark alleyway and walked quickly back to the hotel room.

She was breathless and scared when she entered the room with the food but she tried not to show the panic that she felt.

"Sands….I…..something happened….out there," she stammered. Why did she always stutter when she was nervous, she thought angrily to herself?

"What?" he asked becoming aware that something was wrong.

She knew he was not going to be happy about this turn of events.

"Well," she gulped. "I saw your car and I decided to hotwire it and get rid of the other car and, well, when I did that, these two guys, Americans, they ran me off the road and they started asking me where you were. They knew who I was. I told them you were dead and then they were going to kill me but I escaped."

"What did you do with my car?" he asked her.

"I parked it in a dark alley a few blocks from here," she replied.

"You know, Sam, that was not a smart thing for you to do. You realize that those guys were obviously watching the car and waiting for someone to come get it. You fell right into their trap. You're lucky you aren't dead right now. Didn't they teach you anything at the CIA or weren't you paying attention because I distinctly remember that being "spy 101" training? And now, you've gone and brought the car closer to us. You have made it easier for them to find us. Now the perimeter is smaller, savvy? They need only look for places to stay, vis a vis, hotels, within the few blocks around the car and Voila, they have us. I really thought you were smarter than that."

Samantha sighed. "I was scared. I wasn't thinking clearly. I just knew I needed to get back quickly and tell you."

"Where are my guns?" Sands asked urgently.

"They're right over here on the chair," she replied.

"Give them to me!" he said bluntly.

She walked over and helped him put his guns on.

"Where are your guns?" he asked.

"I lost them."

"You lost them? How did you lose them?" he replied.

"Well, it's sort of a long story," she replied.

"I'm all ears, Sam. Maybe you'd better start telling me what has been going on with you."

"OK, well yesterday, after you called me about needing a new line, I went to the Flying Cow to look for you, but you weren't there. I got hit over the head and brought somewhere, I don't know where, by your girlfriend, Ajedrez."

"Ajedrez?" he asked her. "She was not my girlfriend, per say. We had a…thing…that's all. Nothing serious, although maybe she thought it was."

"Yes, well, hmmm…anyway, that's how I lost my guns. I managed to escape and you called me and I eventually found you. That's about it. She wasn't your girlfriend?"

"No!"

"Oh, OK." She was relieved to hear that he didn't consider Ajedrez his girlfriend but she wondered just what DID constitute a serious relationship with him? She didn't have time right now to think about that with danger lurking right around the corner.

"Take one of my guns," he said. "You may need it and you can see, which is more than I can say. We need to get out of this place and find somewhere else to stay right now and we need to lose my car. You'll need to find another one to hotwire."

She took the gun he was offering her and strapped it on.

"Sands I really don't like hotwiring cars. It's stealing."

"Would you rather be dead or a thief?" he asked her pointedly.

"OK, fine. I'll go find another car and come get you." She left again in search of another car that would be easy to hotwire.


	16. Chapter 16

While she was gone Sands had time to consider the situation he currently found himself in. He was still in excruciating pain, as much as he tried to hide it from Sam, and now he would have to be on alert and able to move and defend himself if necessary. He couldn't see anything but the blackest black of nothingness and he didn't know if he would ever be able to see anything again. The thought of that was overwhelming. He forced himself not to think about it. His thoughts turned to Sam instead.

She had said the men who had attacked her were American. Were they CIA or something else and why were they looking for him? He couldn't help but feel like he was missing a piece of the puzzle and if he just thought about it hard enough he could figure it out.

Either way, it wouldn't be long until they found him if he didn't move right away. He hoped it didn't take Sam long to get back. He would be at a distinct disadvantage if they found him when she was gone.

As much as he hated to admit it, he needed her right now, as pathetic an agent as she was, at least she had eyes and knew how to shoot and apparently get herself out of sticky situations. Together they might be able to make it. He couldn't do it alone and she would help him get around and get the essentials to life, like food, which would otherwise be quite a task for him right now.

He thought about her for a moment. She seemed to be getting rather attached to him which would serve him well in the future. She really was a sweet innocent girl, wasn't she? She seemed to actually like him. He snorted. He had done everything to get her NOT to like him, yet she was still here waiting on him hand and foot.

He wondered how people got to be so easy to manipulate. Didn't they ever learn? He was sure by the time she was out of his company she would be much more jaded than when she met him. He felt a tinge of regret at that thought but he quickly dismissed it. He had to do what he had to do to survive and if that meant using a naïve little girl, then that's what he would do. He didn't get as far as he had in life by being weak and giving in to emotions. No, that only served to confuse and weaken a person.

He needed to keep his objective in mind and that was that he needed to make sure that he was not double crossed by the CIA before he could come out from under cover and go home.

Home…he had been in Mexico for so long that he didn't even think about home much anymore. Mexico had become his home, but what was the CIA going to do with an eyeless field agent? He frowned when he thought about his future. It wasn't going to be what he had planned. What would he do in the future? He didn't want to think about that.

His thoughts were interrupted by Sam's return to the room.

"I've got a car," she said breathlessly as she gathered up their things and toted them back out to the car.

Sands slowly sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

She returned and said, "Here, put on these sweatpants. You can't wander around in pajama bottoms."

She helped him change his pants. He winced in pain as her hand brushed one of his bullet wounds. Then she helped him up, his shoulder over hers and helped him make his way slowly to the door. Every step was painful for him but he didn't let her know.

They finally got to the car and she helped him into the passenger seat. She stuck his sunglasses over the gauze covering his eyeholes.

"There, now you almost look normal," she said as she got into the driver seat and started out of the parking lot.

"Rather than the freak that I really am, you mean?" he said.

"Sands you do not look like a freak. You're still you. They've got all kinds of things they can do these days to fix this, you know, and.."

"Stop! I don't want to talk about it, OK?" he said in an irritated voice.

He didn't want her to feel pity for him. He needed to stop making comments like that. It revealed his fears and he didn't want anyone to know how he really felt about his situation. It made him seem weak and well, pitiful, and that was the last thing he wanted to be.

"Where should we go?" she asked.

"Just drive…" he said darkly.

They drove around for a while in silence until Sam spotted a hotel near the edge of town.

"We're almost out of Culiacan and there's a hotel. Should we stay there?" she asked him.

"I need to stay close to town to do my investigation, so yeah, that might work for the time being. Check us in, but remember not to use your real name, OK?"

"I'm not that stupid!" she retorted.

"I'm not so sure," he replied.

She huffed at him and got out of the car to check them in. He sat in silence and darkness. Whenever she was gone it seemed as if he was in a bottomless pit of nothingness. He didn't like that feeling at all.

She finally returned with a room keycard and tossed it at him hitting him in the forehead with it.

"The only room they had was the honeymoon suite. Don't get any ideas," she warned as she pulled their things out of the trunk and shut it again. He opened the door and got out and stood there having no idea where to go. She grabbed his arm with her free hand.

"You'll have to open the door for me. My arms are full," she said as she led him to their room on the ground floor.

He stood in front of the door. He didn't want to have to fumble around to figure out how to open it and it was one of those keycard things that you had to put in the right way and watch the light change and he could feel frustration building up inside of himself.

"I can't see the darn door to open it!" He hated to admit this to her. It ate away at him.

She snatched the keycard away from him and shoved their stuff into his arms, put the keycard into the slot and opened the door.

He walked in behind her and dropped the stuff in the middle of the floor.

"Do you want to trip over that later?" she asked bluntly. "Cause you surely will. Why'd you just drop it there?"

"I couldn't see where to put it. Why do you try to make me do things I'm not capable of doing?" he said angrily.

"Well you're going to have to learn. I'm not going to be here to do everything for you forever."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Are you going somewhere?" he asked suspiciously.

Maybe now that someone was looking for him she was getting cold feet and would run away from him. It made him uncomfortable to think of being alone and blind and pursued by people who obviously meant him harm. He couldn't do the simplest things anymore. It made him feel so helpless and angry. He had never been so vulnerable in his entire life and it was beyond his control which made him feel even angrier.

She sighed, "No, I'm not going anywhere. I wish you would trust me," she said under her breath.

"Why?" he asked "So you can stab me in the back when I least expect it. I already did that with Ajedr…" he paused realizing what he was about to say.

"Ajedrez?" she asked. "What does she have to do with any of this?"

"Nothing!"

"No, it was not nothing. Tell me!" she demanded.

He sat down on the bed suddenly feeling really tired. He sighed.

"She's the one that took my eyes. She sat there and watched while the doctor drilled my eyes out of my head and she laughed," he said quietly. "She laughed…"

Samantha sat down beside him and put her arms around him and held him close to her. She didn't say anything, she just held him, and he let her. It felt like she really cared, but he shook the feeling off. Nobody cared in this world. Everyone was out for themselves. He had learned that time and again, the hard way, he told himself.

"She'll pay for what she did," she said after a moment.

He pushed her away. "She already did. I killed her," he said emotionlessly.

"I need to rest," he said and he laid down on the bed.

Sam pulled the covers back and helped him get his shoes off and got him situated under the covers.

"You rest," she said and kissed him on the forehead. He fell into a fitful sleep with visions of Ajedrez laughing and Sam crying running through his head.


	17. Chapter 17

Samantha carefully removed Sands sunglasses, leaving just the gauze, and watched him as he fell into a deep sleep. He always looked so angelic when he slept, she thought to herself. It had seemed as if he had almost opened up to her for a moment and then it was gone. The loss of his eyes must be more devastating to him then he had let on, she thought, but of course it would be. Anyone would be traumatized by that, but Sands wasn't just anybody. He stoically went on as if everything were normal in his world except for the tiniest indications that it wasn't. She hoped that he would open up to her further so she could really and truly get to know him better. She sighed and looked around the room.

Sands wouldlove this place if he could see it, she thought. This was a honeymoon suite to die for. The king bed was covered in a deep red velvet comforter and surrounded on two sides and the ceiling with mirrors. In the corner of the room was a heart shaped two person Jacuzzi bathtub complete with lotions, shampoo, conditioner and oils sitting on the edge of it. For once she was glad he couldn't see because he would surely never quit with the lewd comments.

For now, she would keep this little secret to herself. When he woke up she would help him get cleaned up, she thought. He hadn't had a proper bath or shower since his injuries and the tub would be easy to work with. She looked around and found some plastic bags which she thought she would wrap around his injuries to keep them dry while he bathed. They also needed to discuss seeing an eye doctor right away as Dr. Vega had insisted. The sooner Sands knew the prognosis on his eyes the better he could deal with whatever the final outcome would be, she thought.

She decided to watch a little TV and turned it on. The volume was suddenly blaring and she was shocked to see that the channel was on a porn station. Loud moans blasted out from the TV and she quickly shut it off but it was too late. Sands woke up.

"What was that?" he asked sleepily. "Are you getting started without me, there, Sugarbutt?

Samantha turned three shades of red. "Aw, no, it…the TV was….on a weird channel. I'm sorry I woke you up."

"I'm not; I can't be sleeping all day. So, what was that on the TV? It sounded like wild animal lust."

"Yeah, something like that," she said totally embarrassed.

"Why were you watching that?" he asked silkily.

"I wasn't!" she retorted quickly. "It was on when I turned the TV on."

"Oh, too bad," he replied a smile playing on his lips.

"Oh, just stop it," she replied laughing slightly at his smiling face. It was uncomfortably silent for a moment, and then she asked, "Do you want to take a bath?"

"I thought you'd never ask," he replied.

"No, not with me! You have to get cleaned up. I can help you."

"Mmmm, that would be nice," he replied the smile still playing on his lips.

"No funny business. I mean it, Mister," she said trying to sound cross.

"Whatever you say."

She walked over to the tub and started the water for the bath.

"In room Jacuzzi?" he asked his eyebrows raised.

"Aw, yeah," she replied.

"Oh, that's right this is a honeymoon suite, isn't it? What else is in here?"

"Not much," she replied not wanting to fuel his libido anymore.

"I think someone is keeping something from me," he replied. "I bet my imagination is far worse than the reality, though."

"Probably," she replied. "Get undressed."

"Oh, someone is in a hurry to get me naked," he smiled at her.

"Would you just quit?" she replied throwing a towel at him. "Put that on when you're done."

She looked the other direction when he got undressed. "Is the towel on yet?" she asked.

"You've seen me naked before," he replied.

"Just put it on!" she said getting annoyed.

"Fine. It's on."

She turned back to look at him. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with just the towel wrapped around his waist. He was undeniably gorgeous. Her breath caught in her throat.

Oh, Lordy, this was not going to be easy, she thought to herself. She walked over to him and wrapped the plastic bags around his wounds and grabbed his hand.

"C'mon"

He stood up and followed her over to the tub.

"Now, be careful, there's a step here," she said. She helped him step up to the tub. "Now, drop the towel and get it," she said turning away again.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

She heard the splash of the water and looked back to see him settling down into the tub. She stared at his naked form under the water for a moment, then caught herself and quickly squeezed some bubble bath into the water. The tub quickly filled with bubbles. She grabbed the shampoo and a glass and began pouring water on his hair and scrubbing it with the shampoo.

Sands was unusually quiet. She kept washing his hair and massaging his head, enjoying the experience thoroughly. He had such beautiful hair, she thought to herself. His head was tilted back and he looked so good, she thought, and then quickly banished the thought. He was injured and she needed to keep her wits about her, gorgeous or not she couldn't give in to the temptation to…. no, she was not even going to think about that.

"Cat got your tongue? You're not usually this quiet," she asked him trying to think of anything but how he looked right now.

"No, just enjoying this," he said softly.

It became quiet again as she finished washing his hair and then moved to his back scrubbing it with a soap covered wash cloth. She watched his muscles ripple as she moved over them and she squeezed her eyes shut to avoid the thoughts running through her head.

She moved around to his front and stopped, looking at him and soaking him in for a moment. Suddenly she felt herself getting yanked into the bathtub fully dressed. She sputtered as she restored her balance and found herself floundering around in the tub on top of Sands.

"What are you do…" she began and was pulled into a deep kiss. She found herself responding just as passionately to his kiss before finally pulling away.

"Sands…we can't….you're hurt….stitches…," she said breathlessly.

He pulled her back into another passionate kiss and she went limp in his arms as he started to remove her wet clothing, all thoughts of stopping him gone.


	18. Chapter 18

They awoke from their nap still wrapped in each others arms, having moved to the bed. She looked over at his still naked body and sighed, snuggling closer to him.

"Stitches still intact," he remarked. "That Dr. Vega was good." A smile spread across his lips.

"Yes, apparently," she said sleepily. "We should get up. I need to change your dressings."

She reluctantly got out of the bed, got dressed, and went to the bathroom to get some more gauze and antibiotic cream. She came back with that and gave him his pills slipping them into his hand to take with some water. He sat up and she began to dress his wounds again carefully. She finished his legs and arm and moved to his eyes.

He frowned. I'd rather you didn't touch those," he said.

"I have to. They'll get infected."

He sighed and allowed her to remove the old gauze pads and replace them. She tried not to feel sick to her stomach as she looked into the gaping holes that were left there. She covered them again with fresh gauze. It didn't matter to her. He was still beautiful, she thought. It was just so sad that this had happened to him. She couldn't help but feel that he had been marred this way by that demon woman simply because he was beautiful and in some sick way she was marking him. She hoped Ajedrez was burning in hell for doing this to him.

"We need to see an eye doctor, right away," she said.

"We can't, not now," he replied.

"Dr. Vega said we had to do it right away," she insisted.

"No, we can't go out and expose ourselves right now. We are being followed, remember?"

"I know, but, it's important…your sight…"

"No! Listen, it's already been more than a day, since it happened. It won't matter now how much longer I wait. If it can be fixed, they'll just have to wait to do it."

Sands, I just want you to…."

He cut her off. "What…be normal again? What?"

"No, I just want you to have the best chance possible to restore your sight. I would feel awful if we could have done it and we didn't do it in time. You would never see again and you could have."

"That's a risk I'll have to take," he said.

"Why are you being so stubborn!"

"Why do you care so much?" he said angrily. "It's my eyes!"

"Because I love you," she blurted out. "And I care about what happens to you and how you're going to spend the rest of your life."

He fell silent as he took in what she had just said.

"You shouldn't love me. I'm not good for you."

"It doesn't matter whether you are or you aren't. I love you anyway."

It grew silent again, then he said after a moment, "Don't. It's a mistake. I can't love you back."

She felt the pain of his words. He didn't love her back. She had hoped that he did deep down somewhere in there, but he didn't. Tears stung her eyes as she sobbed silently not wanting him to hear. She moved away from him and sat in a chair near the window and cracked the curtains open so she could look out. She noticed some men looking at their hotwired car. It was the same two men that had forced her car off the road the day before.

"Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "They found us."

She jumped up and ran over to Sands. "We have to leave, they're here in the parking lot."

"Who's here?" he asked.

"The men who ran me off the road."

She grabbed his clothes and began franticly helping him put them on. She shoved his sunglasses on and grabbed his guns and helped him put those on. She took the gun he gave her for herself and was starting to strap that on, when they heard a sharp kick to the door. It didn't give in the first time, allowing her and Sands time to drop down on the far side of the bed before it came crashing in. Samantha could see their feet from under the bed.

"Where are they and how many?" Sands whispered to her.

"Two, both still in the doorway," she replied.

Suddenly Sands jumped up from behind the bed as he pulled two guns out and started firing at the doorway.

Samantha heard return fire and then two thumps as the men's bodies hit the ground. She looked up at Sands, standing over her, feet splayed apart, guns drawn and smoking. There were bullet holes in the wall behind and beside him.

"Were you hit?" she asked franticly.

"No, they missed," he said as he reholstered his guns. "Well, that should buy us some time. Go check their pockets and find out who they were."

Samantha got up and went over to the bodies. Searching through their pockets and wallets she found CIA ID. She was shocked. Sands had thought it was CIA, but she didn't. Why would the CIA be after them? They worked for the CIA. This made no sense.

She said quietly to Sands, "CIA."

He nodded. "Well, now we know what we are up against and it's not pretty. Are you sure you don't want to get out now? This may not end pleasantly for us."

"No! I won't leave you alone. Besides I'm already in this. If they want you dead, they want me dead, too."

"I don't know Sugarbutt. I suggest you turn yourself in. If you leave now, you won't know enough really to help them. They'll interrogate you and I'll be long gone. You might retain your job, and at the very least, your life. "

"I said, No! I'm not leaving you."

"Not a good choice. I'd leave you, Sugarbutt, remember that."

"You keep saying things like that but I don't believe you. You aren't as heartless as you pretend to be."

"Yes, I am, don't kid yourself."


	19. Chapter 19

She sighed and gathered up all their things and took them down to the car. When she got back Sands was sitting on the bed waiting for her. She grabbed his hand and led him to the car and started to drive to the next town.

"Sands, why are they after you?" she asked.

"I don't know, Sugarbutt. Maybe they just don't like me."

"And…" she said pointedly.

"And what?" he said innocently.

"Look, the CIA doesn't just knock off it's agents. Nobody would take the job if that were the case. You did something or know something dangerous to them."

"I have no idea why they are looking for me, seriously."

"Hmmm, or you don't want to tell me, is that it?"

"It might be better the less you know."

"Sands, if I'm going to risk my life, I want to know everything!"

"What's your clearance level?" he asked pointedly.

She didn't answer. "I thought so," he said. "Not high enough to know."

"But high enough to get killed, is that it?" "They did give me top secret information for this mission, by the way, when they sent me in to help you on the Day of the Dead. I know about the coup."

"That's irrelevant now," he said.

"Maybe, but what else do I need to know?" she asked again.

"Nothing," he replied. He couldn't tell her about his plan to steal the 20 million pesos on the Day of the Dead and it didn't matter anyway, he never got the money. He did wonder what ever happened to it.

He wondered if the CIA had uncovered his plan, or if Ajedrez had spilled the beans to them. She knew everything. That was stupid of him. Now here he was blind and being chased by his own agency. It was a foolish mistake he had made to trust a woman. They could not be trusted, too emotional. One little thing goes wrong and they'll throw you to the wolves or worse.

"Find a hotel in the next town. Park the car, check us in and then take this car and ditch it as far as away as possible," he said.

"OK," she replied.

They found a hotel and she left him in the room while she did as he had told her and got rid of the car . Then she found some food and returned to the room to find him asleep again. His injuries were obviously taxing on him, she thought, even though he barely indicated that he was in any pain. She knew he was.

She sat down and ate the sandwich she bought for herself. She wondered why the CIA was after him and whether they intended to kill him. Her heart hurt at the thought of her Sands dead, but she would probably be dead, too. She was with him and she intended to help him even if it meant she would die beside him.

It was early evening so she got into her nightgown and climbed into bed beside him wanting to just hold him, afraid that it may be just a short time before it would all be over. She cried thinking that she might never hear him say he loved her, but she loved him, and that was all that mattered now. He was all the mattered. She held him tightly to herself and sobbed into his shoulder.

Sands woke up when he heard Sam sobbing. She was holding him so tightly he almost couldn't breathe. He didn't move, not wanting her to know that he had woken up. She was scared, he thought. She didn't need to be putting herself in this kind of danger for him. She should go back to the states and back to her normal happy life. He was ruining her life and would most likely get her killed. That was unacceptable.

He didn't want her to die for him. She was an innocent and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't justify her death. He could just leave her there in the hotel and go on his way, but how far would he get blind? The CIA would still probably track her down and kill her anyway. As she drifted off to sleep he made the decision that he would have to turn himself in to the CIA. It was for her own good. She deserved better than him. She deserved a future and a good life. He could offer her neither. He was nothing but a crippled heartless killer. His life wasn't worth anything anyway in his present state. He needed to save hers, at least.

He felt a tightness in his throat as he thought about never holding her again, and he didn't understand it. Why did the idea of that hurt so much? But he knew what he had to do. Tomorrow would be their last day together. Suddenly it didn't feel so bad to be held so tightly tonight.

It was some time before he finally fell asleep, wanting to savor the time he had left with her for as long as he could.


	20. Chapter 20

The next day Sands woke up early, got dressed and put his sunglasses on. He found Samantha's cell phone and dialed the number to his boss at the CIA. The phone rang twice before it was picked up.

"Telford here," came the familiar voice of his boss.

"Sands," he replied shortly.

There was a pause on the other end. The line crackled.

Sands…hello, where ya been buddy…we've been…worried about you?"

"Cut the crap, Telford. I know the CIA is looking for me and I don't think they're trying to help me."

"Yes, well, security and all that. You understand, I'm sure," he replied silkily.

"I'll come in," Sands replied shortly, "but under my own conditions."

"What would those be?" Telford asked smoothly.

"You let Sam go. She walks away from this, keeps her job, goes back to life as usual. She knows nothing, just got caught up in this thing with me," he replied.

"Deal. We don't have any issues with her anyway, Sands. It's you we want."

"Fine," Sands said shortly.

He told Telford where he was and hung up the phone. No doubt they would be there soon to apprehend him. He sat thinking about what he had done. He didn't like to give up. He never had before, but this time it was different. It wasn't just him involved and he wasn't who he used to be. Being blind, he would not have been able to save Sam if they got involved in a gun fight.

He still didn't know why the CIA had decided that he was a security risk and held out hope that he would be able to talk his way out of it. He was sure they would interrogate him before they decided what to do with him. Maybe everything would still turn out good for the both of them.

"What did you do?" Her icy voice cut through his thoughts. "I heard you telling someone where we are!"

"I had to, Sugarbutt," he said simply.

"Who were you talking to?" Her voice was strained as she asked.

"Telford," he replied.

"You're turning yourself in?...NO! Absolutely not!" She got out of bed, got dressed and started moving around the room gathering things up. He caught her arm.

"Yes, I am," he said bluntly.

"Why?" she yelled at him sounding furious and hysterical at the same time. "They'll kill you. You can't!" Her voice cracked as tears welled up in her throat. "Let me go so I can get our things. We're leaving."

"No!" he said angrily.

She lashed out at him and started punching him in the shoulder with her free hand. "Let…me…go! We need to leave!"

When he didn't release her she said angrily, "What? Are you giving up? The great Sands is giving up? How can you do that? Why would you do that?"

"Because I don't want you to die!" he hissed at her.

"Because of…me?" she said quietly as the impact of his words took her anger away. "Sands I can handle myself. I can help you. I…."

He kissed her hard and long on the lips and held her close.

"No, you can't do this." Her words were muffled by his lips on hers. She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed as he kissed her.

The door to their room came crashing in.

Telford and two other men were standing in the doorway with guns drawn.

"How sweet," Telford remarked as he saw them embracing. "Grab the girl!" he ordered the men.

Samantha made a lunge for their guns still sitting on the table, but was caught by one of the men who slapped her across the face and roughly held her, pressing a gun under her chin.

"Telford?" Sands said his eyebrows raised. "You're in Mexico?"

"Yes, well I couldn't very well let you get away now could I?"

Why are YOU here? You never leave Virginia," Sands asked.

"Well, you see Sands, the stakes are rather high. I'm surprised you didn't figure it out really. You are usually much more perceptive than this," he said smoothly as he sat down in one of the chairs.

Sands mind was spinning trying to figure out what he could be talking about. He knew his boss hated him. That much he had known for quite some time. He wasn't sure why, although there were several reasons he might. But they had a good working relationship, stilted as it was.

"Still don't get it, eh?" He laughed at Sands silence. "Tie them both up and put them in the car," he ordered the men.

"You said you'd let her go!" Sands hissed at Telford.

"I lied," he responded simply as the men bound their hands and gagged them both.


	21. Chapter 21

They were thrown roughly into the trunk of the car, legs tangled up together as the car sped off.

Samantha started to cry. She had no idea what was going on and if she and Sands would live to see another day. She couldn't believe the mess they were in. The trunk was hot and musty smelling. Sands tried several times to kick the trunk open but it wouldn't budge. They drove for several hours and they were exhausted and overheated when they finally arrived at their destination.

The trunk opened and light streamed in stinging her eyes and the men roughly pulled them out of the car and pushed them toward an open door to a hacienda. She looked around quickly and saw that it was some sort of compound that they were in with armed guards.

She felt a gun in her back and they both walked into the hacienda and to a room that they were directed toward. Sands was pushed into a chair, his arms and legs were tied to it and his gag was removed. Telford remained standing holding Sam with a gun at her chin. He told the other two men to leave the room and shut the door.

"So, we finally get to talk, Sands," he began. "You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment."

"You know you're crossing the line, Telford," Sands said simply.

"Oh, so you're finally catching on. Good. That's right Sands this is not an official CIA mission. You see Sands, they think you're dead and Sam here is dead, too. I think they are having a memorial service for the both of you today…killed in the line of duty. He clicked his tongue. How sad. Sorry I couldn't be there for that."

He slapped Sam across the face with the gun making her yelp.

"Don't touch her," he seethed at Telford.

"Actually I was going to kill her while you…listen. But first, I really must tell you my plan, though, Sands as it's too good to keep to myself. You see, I hired Ajedrez to find out what you were up to. That's right, she worked for me, too. I made sure you never knew who she really was, security clearance and everything. I knew you were weak when it came to women and would be easy to manipulate with a beautiful one like Ajedrez. Even Samantha here has fouled you up now." He laughed and began beating Samantha mercilessly until her knees buckled but he held her up.

Sands struggled with his bound arms trying to get free. Telford began again.

"You're just too predictable. Ajedrez told me everything you were doing, Sands, and what she was going to have done to you. I know about your eyes. She let you go so that you could get the 20 million pesos and I, in turn, would get it from you. So, where is it?"

Sands laughed. "Is that what this is about? The money?"

"No, that was just a nice side benefit. I planned to get you killed either way, Sands. Ever since I had you sent to Mexico I have tried to foul you up any way I could but you just kept popping back up. I even sent Sam here knowing she was a lousy agent, but beautiful enough that she would probably get you killed trying to save her." He laughed. "But you're still alive Sands so I guess I'm going to have to kill you myself."

He dropped Samantha on the floor at his feet, her limp beaten body falling with a thud. Sands heard her fall and wondered if she was alright.

"It's really a pity that I have to kill such a fine female specimen, isn't it Sands? Maybe I should have a little fun with her first. What do you think?" Telford asked.

"What do you want Telford?" Sands asked calmly.

"The money, where is it? Tell me."

"I don't have it."

Telford came across the room and hit Sands across the face with his gun. "Where is it or would you rather she die right now?"

Sands swallowed hard. "I don't have it. I never got to it. I don't know where it is."

Telford thought for a moment. "You're a liar. He walked back over to where Sam was. "Say goodbye to your little toy, Sands," Telford said and Sands heard the click of the hammer of his gun. He couldn't let him kill Sam. He had to find a way to distract him.

"So, how's your wife?" Sands asked knowing full well that she had died in a car accident some time ago.

Telford froze and looked over at Sands. "You know she's dead!" he spat at him.

"Oh, yes, that's right. It slipped my mind. Fatal car accident wasn't it?" Sands continued. "What a shame."

Telford spun on his heel and headed back toward Sands. "I should kill you now," he said, his face now inches from Sands. "But I want the pleasure of torturing you first."

"She was only 24 when she died, wasn't she? Hot little number. I never could figure out what she saw in you," Sands continued.

"You son of a…" Telford grabbed Sands by the neck in a strangle hold. "It's your fault she's dead!" he seethed as he squeezed Sands neck. "You ruined her for me! She was pining away for you. She never got over you. So I had to kill her and I vowed to kill you, too."

Sands could barely reply but managed to say, "She wasn't even really that good."

Telford's hands tightened around Sands neck threatening to break it. Sands could not get any air into his lungs. Sands finally freed one of his hands and reached down and fumbled with his cowboy boot trying to find the handle of the knife he had stashed there.

So that's what this was all about, Sands thought to himself. He had had an affair with Telford's wife a couple of years ago. She had come into the office in Langley on several occasions to visit her husband and she would make small talk with Sands who was working late trying to finish the paperwork from his last mission. Then she started coming in when her husband wasn't even there and still made small talk with Sands until eventually they ended up sleeping together. It wasn't a long affair by any means and Sands barely remembered it, but when she died suddenly and Telford didn't seem to mourn for her, he wondered if Telford had something to do with her death.

Sands' fingers came in contact with the smooth end of the knife and he quickly grabbed it and swung his free arm up. In one quick motion he slashed Telford's throat. Blood spurted out and Telford gurgled a protest before he fell to the floor.

Sands freed himself from the rest of the bindings with the knife and scrambled across the floor to where he had heard Sam's voice coming from last, splaying his hands out to search for her.

"Sam, he begged urgently. "Talk to me. I can't find you."

He heard a small groan off to his right and he moved in that direction until he felt her, crumpled on the floor. He quickly searched her with his hands and felt the sticky wetness of blood.


	22. Chapter 22

She was badly injured by the beating but she was still alive. Relief washed over him. He had to somehow get them out of there, but how? He was blind and he knew there were at least two other men outside waiting for them.

He searched Telford's body and took his gun. He also found another small gun on him. He pulled Sam over into a corner of the room and then walked over to the door and pounded on it and waited.

The door opened and Sands fired his guns at the men standing there. He heard their bodies hit the ground. He pulled them into the room, shut the door, took their guns and found the car keys.

He crawled back over to Sam and cradled her head in his lap, removing her gag and unbinding her hands. "Sam, can you hear me?" he asked.

"Mmm," she moaned.

"You have to wake up and help me," he said urgently. "Telford is dead and we have to get out of here."

She squinted her eyes open and looked up into Sands worried face. The pain in her chest indicated that she had broken ribs from the beating she had taken. She winced in pain.

"OK," she managed to croak out. She looked down at the blood on herself. She was hurt pretty badly but she needed to help him. She was determined that they get out of this alive.

"You may have to…help me," she said barely able to speak.

He stroked her face. "No, you'll be helping me. You're my eyes, remember?"

She smiled weakly. "Yes. Help me up."

Sands carefully helped her to her feet. She moaned in obvious pain. He supported most of her weight on himself as they made their way to the door.

"You have to tell me what you see," he said. "We need to find a way out of here."

He slowly cracked open the door so she could see out.

"I see two men guarding the gate out of here," she said weakly. "I see the car parked near the entranceway to this building. It's a straight shot out of here to the car and then out the gate."

"Good girl," Sands said. "Now we have to move." He hoisted her up and started to move as fast as he could toward the car.

When they were about halfway there, the guards at the gate spotted them and started shooting. Bullets whizzed past their head as they continued forward.

Suddenly Samantha felt a sharp pain in her abdomen and looked down. She had been hit by a bullet. They got to the car and Sands put her in the passenger side and got in and started the car.

"Straight ahead to the gate?" he confirmed with her as a bullet shattered the windshield.

"Yes," she barely whispered.

He floored the gas pedal of the car and sped toward the gate as fast as the car would go. They crashed through the gate and continued down the dusty road.

"Help me, Sam, I can't see where we're going."

She laughed slightly and blood bubbled out of her mouth. That was not a good sign she thought but she didn't tell Sands.

"The road is straight right now. Go straight," she said breathlessly.

She could feel her head starting to get dizzy. "I need a hospital," she finally said barely able to keep awake. She directed him left or right, sometimes grabbing the wheel to keep them on the road until they got to a small town. Fortunately the roads were deserted as he barely kept on them.

She spotted a clinic. "Stop here," she said. "Get a doctor in the building on the left." She fell back against the seat exhausted from trying to stay awake and help Sands while he drove blind.

Sands got out of the car and made his way to the clinic.

"I need a doctor!" he said in Spanish and in English as fast as he could.

An older man accompanied him back to the car.

"Senor, she is very bad," the doctor said, "She is shot in the abdomen and may have internal bleeding. I can't help her much. We need to get her to the hospital."

"Can you drive us?" he asked the doctor. "I'm blind."

The doctor looked at him incredulously wondering how they got to his clinic in the first place.

"Yes, I'll drive you. Apply pressure to her wound." He moved Sam to the back seat of the car and Sands jumped in with her. The doctor placed a handful of gauze in Sands hands and put them on her wound. "Right here," the doctor directed him.

Sands pressed on the wound stopping the blood flow as the car sped off to the hospital.

"Why didn't you tell me you were shot?" Sands hissed at her.

"It would have distracted you," she whispered feeling herself slipping into unconsciousness. "You might have stopped and gotten killed." She felt the blackness over take her.

Sands bent down and kissed her and he felt her go slack in his arms. This was all his fault. If she died it would be because of him. He felt a lump in his throat. He couldn't lose her now. Not now that he…loved her? Did he really just think that? Was it even possible? He didn't have time to examine the thought as he prayed that they would make it to the hospital in time to save her life.


	23. Chapter 23

They arrived at the hospital after what seemed like an eternity to Sands. Samantha was rushed off immediately to the operating room leaving Sands to wait in the waiting room. The doctor who had brought them there said goodbye and good luck and was on his way leaving Sands alone with his thoughts.

He sat down, his head in his hands and waited feeling overwhelmed by his own emotions. He had never cared about anyone ever, not ever, except family, of course and even that was no longer the case.

Why did he care about her? She had been so good to him, too good. She was too good, he thought. Not right, not balanced, but no, he didn't want her any other way. Why did she have to be so perfect? It made him angry to think about it. It made him terrified that she might not survive. He was beside himself with the mix of emotions he was feeling when the doctor walked up and cleared his throat jarring Sands out of his thoughts.

"You can see her now," he said simply.

"How is she?" he said to the doctor.

"She'll live. She's pretty beat up. We removed the bullet, stopped the bleeding and bound her ribs. She'll be out of commission for a while."

The doctor helped Sands find Samantha's room. Samantha saw him walk in and smiled weakly, happy to see him. He felt his way over to her bed and sat down in a chair that was beside it.

"Hello," Samantha said her voice cracked and strained.

Sands reached a hand up on the bed searching for her hand. She slipped her hand into his. He squeezed it tight and sighed deeply, not saying anything for a moment.

"I was afraid I'd lost you," he said finally.

"Still here," she whispered her lips dry and parched.

Sands stood up. Leaning over her, he searched her face with his hands touching it lightly with his fingers, tracing her eyes, nose and finally mouth before touching his lips to hers softly. More softly then she ever remembered him kissing her.

He lingered there for a long moment savoring her taste before pulling back a bit and whispering quietly, "I don't ever want to feel that way again."

"You mean you aren't as heartless as you claim?" she said, her intended laugh cut off by a sharp pain in her ribs.

"Apparently not," he replied in a deadly serious voice.

She wasn't sure why he looked so pained when he said it. "What's wrong?" she asked concern for him evident in her voice.

"Nothing's wrong….everything's right," he said without explanation.

"What do you mean?"

"You…you're right," he said.

"I don't understand."

"I love you," he said bluntly.

"You….you love me?" she asked incredulously.

"I'm not gonna say it again!" he replied anger rising in his voice.

"No, no…you don't have to…I…," tears started to fill her eyes. "I just never thought I'd hear you say that," she said choking on her words.

He leaned down and kissed her again, harder this time, his hand slipping behind her head drawing her as close to himself as he could.

After a moment he moved a few inches away again. "Don't you ever leave me," he said desperation apparent in his voice.

"I won't," she said. "I promise." Then she pulled him back down to her and kissed him again.


End file.
